SPORTS

Dec. 2, 1996

Four Eagles earn All-District honors

By JON FULBRIGHTStaff WriterPECOS, Dec. 2 -- Four members of the Pecos Eagles were named to the All-District 4-4A football team, while five others received honorable mention in voting by the district's head coaches.

Senior Joseph Strain was named to the first team on defense for the second year in a row, but at a different position this time around. Strain was selected at linebacker after earning honors at defensive end last year.

Named to the second team was senior offensive lineman Didio Martinez, junior defensive end Jose Contreras and sophomore free safety Mark Abila, and honorable mention went to seniors Nufie Flores and Eric Abila and juniors Jason Abila, Moses Martinez and Jake Fowler.

Strain was a unanamous pick last season at end, but shifted to middle linebacker this year as the Eagles went to a 4-3 defense. He missed one game due to a knee injury and missed out on a unanamous selection this time around, but was still one of only four seniors named to the junior-dominated first team.

Martinez was a honorable mention selection a year ago on offense, was was named to the team this year at split guard, while Fowler earned his honoable mention at tight guard.

Along with Strain, Mark Abila was one of the team's leading tacklers starting at free safety, after being brought up to play the position midway through his freshman year. Contreras was a late-season addition a year ago, but started out this year at linebacker before shifting over to defensive end two weeks into the 4-4A schedule. The Eagles' defensive numbers improved by over 130 yards per game in their final three district contests.

Both Jason Abila and Eric Abila didn't play football last year, and for Jason Abila, it was his first year at quarterback as well. He ended up fourth in the district in passing, going 42-for-119 for 576 yards, with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Flores was his main target, catching 15 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown. In district play alone, his nine catches for 158 yards was second behind only Lake View's Morris Smith. He moved to receiver this year after playing two games at quarterback as a junior, before a season-ending knee injury.

Eric Abila wound up starting most of the Eagles' games at defensive back, and finished with one interception on the season. Martinez was in his second season at free safety had had the key interception to clinch Pecos' season-ending win over Fort Stockton, along with a pair of fumble recoveries.

MVP honors in District 4-4A went to the Mustangs' Williamses -- Andrews Shaud and Sweetwater's Shedrick -- as well as San Angelo's Sterlin Gilbert, who earned first team honors for the third straight year.

Shaud Williams averaged 220 yards per game rushing in district, despite leaving the final regular season game after gaining only eight yards due to a hip pointer. His 448 yards against Fort Stockton was the second-best total ever by a running back in Class 4A. He was a second team pick last season.

Gilbert led 4-4A in passing for the third straight year with 1,584 yards and 13 touchdowns, while Shedrick Williams was a repeat first team pick, though he did it last season in District 5-4A. His five interceptions was tops among all district players in 1996.

Sweetwater, San Angelo and Andrews were the three teams to advance to the playoffs, and also had the most players named to the 4-4A squad. Lake View led with 16 players selected, Sweetwater put 14 players on the team and Andrews had 12. Fort Stockton and Big Spring and Fort Stockton, who finished tied with Pecos for fourth in the final standings, had 10 and nine players respectively, named to the first and second team squads.

Eagles cagers go 1-2 in Odessa tournament

PECOS, Dec. 2 -- The Pecos Eagles had some problems with the power game of a couple of Class 5A teams at the Odessa Thanksgiving Hoopfest over the weekend, while their press caused some late problems for another 5A's junior varsity squad.

The Eagles lost to eventual tournament champion Odessa Permian in the first round of the two-day tournament on Friday, 93-71, then came back later in the day to defeat Odessa High's JV squad, 82-61, before losing in Saturday's consolation finals to Arlington Lamar, 86-65.

"We held our own with Permian. It was only an eight-point lead at halftime (41-33), so it was anybody's ballgame," Eagles' coach Mike Sadler said. "Permian just out-powered us. We had nine players and they had 13-15. We had a couple hurt and a couple ineligible, and that made it hard at the end, but it was a good game."

The Panthers outscored the Eagles by a 26-19 margin in each of the final two periods for the final 22 point margin.

Omar Hinojos earned all-tournament honors with a 21-point effort against Permian, 26 points against Odessa's JV and 15 in the consolation finals versus Lamar. Hector Garcia and Eric Abila each had 16 points to lead the Eagles in their loss to the Vikings, while Abila had 15 and Fernando Navarrete put in 14 against Permian.

Lamar's leading scorers, Sylvester Taylor and Jeff Pool, had just 17 and 15 points, and no other player was in double figures. But the Vikings had 12 others get into the scoring column, while only six Eagles overall got into the scoring column.

The Vikings were up by nine after one period, 25-16, and widened their lead to 47-30 at the half. "Any time you have two powerful 5A teams you're going to face a lot of people and they're going to put a lot of pressure on you," Sadler said. "But I'm proud out our kids for the way they played with a minimal amount of practice. It was a great experience for us."

Pecos' game against Odessa High started less than four hours after their loss to Permian, and Sadler said, "We were almost emptied after Permian, and they stayed with us until we eventually started overpowering them. Our press started causing them a lot of problems in the fourth quarter."

The Eagles actually were behind after three periods, 47-43, before exploding for 37 points in the final eight minutes of play. Fabien Adame put in 15 points and Oscar Luna was also in double figures with 10 for the Eagles, who come out of the tournament with a 4-3 season record.

Permian won first with a 75-71 overtime victory over Odessa High, and El Paso Andress won third with a 78-71 victory over Hereford. The Eagles will be back at home on Tuesday night, looking to avenge their other loss so far this season, when they host Monahans.

Cold third quarter shooting dooms Pecos

PECOS, Dec. 2 -- The Pecos Eagles' girls continue to seek their first win of the season along with a more consistent offense, after they fell to 0-3 on the year Saturday with a 67-48 loss to Midland High's junior varsity basketball team.

The Eagles jumped out to a 16-9 lead after one period, only to see Midland outscore Pecos 26-13 in the second period and 17-4 in the third quarter.

"The third quarter killed us," said Eagles coach Patty Hall. "We took a lot of shots -- we took 19 -- but we made only two, and in the fourth quarter we took 11 shots and made only four.

"We have to become more accurate in our shooting," she said. "We have to work on our technique and stop rushing our shots."

The Eagles were also hurt by fouls, though no one fouled out in the game. "We put them on the line too much. They shot 26 free throws and we shot only six," Hall said, as 14 of the Bulldogs' 19-point final margin came on the line.

Penny Armstrong led Pecos with 13 points, while Lori Marquez had 10 for the Eagles, all in the first half. Michelle Acosta's 12 points was tops for Midland High.

The loss dropped Pecos to 0-3 on the season, and Acosta said the lack of games during the first two weeks of play has hurt the Eagles. "I think its just a matter of clicking. It's only our third game, and we haven't had a chance to get down our fundamentals as well as those other teams have," Hall said. "Hopefully after this game and after the Crane Tournament, we'll improve."

Pecos will open play at Crane on Thursday afternoon, when they take on District 4-4A rival Fort Stockton.

Midland High's sophomores also won on Saturday, defeating Pecos' JV by a 72-29 final score. Midland High's varsity was down in the Rio Grande Valley over the weekend, where they took first place in the Harlingen Classic.

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